Twisters



Aug. 13, 1957 E. GRAF 2,802,329

TWISTERS Filed Aug. 51, 1955 AAAA United States Patent O Mice TwlsrERs Application August 31, 1953, Serial No. 377,402

Sv-Claims. (Cl. 575,8.84)

-Thsfinvention relates, to textile twisting machines. of thel-'sosealled 2f for. 1 type, andmore particularly to, a novel yarnstorage wheel structure for use on such machimes.

Asis welltunderstood. byl-thoseskilled in the art, a machine of thisrtype is so organized as to put two turns of twist1 intotheyarn, thread, or other strand to be twisted for4v each revolution of the spindle. A prior art machine of this` type comprises a` revolving vertical spindle on whichis; mounted aV stationary spool from which the `yarn is drawn, the spool being supported by a normally sta unitary/carrier rotatably mounted on` the spindle.- Commonly/, magnets are used to maintain thecarrier instationaryaposition.` Thespindle and the spool support, or carrier, havefa central` passage therethrough for guiding the yarn unwound from the spool to a yarn passage and an openingin a yarn, storage wheel which supplies a tension to` theyarn. Thei yarn is drawn from the supply package down through thecentral passage andlthrough al radial-- opening in'the yarn storagewheel. From thereit doScribesga balloon surroundingthe supply package in its upward` travelthrough a; balloon gathering eye to asuitable, take-upy or; winding mechanism. Thus, for each revolutiontofr the; spindle, one turn of twist is imparted-to theyyarn as itvleavesithe supply package during its travel tosthesstoragewheel, and; another turn as it balloons upward from;the-storagel wheel to, thetake-up'mechanism.

In such machines the means for adjustment andthe ensuring: ofiuniformity of tension` are: extremely.` importautr The 'tyarntensionis controlledatltwo. stagesjrst,

during: the:` downward passage; to; the storagewheel' and;` Second; `during .theY upwardi passage. The: tension 1 appl1ed: duringrgthelirststagetcan alsosbe:` called, a ,preftenslon'and;

centrifugal` force, ofi the.:` yarn: balloon,` causes-l thee; yarn: balloon totbe deflected'. backwards ,i and; automatically to;

wrap itselfrarounds tbegstoragel wheel.: Thefwrapf around:` 'the-,'st,orage` wheelicauses an l.. additionaLfrict-on ont the yarn whiehtwll: increase to`V azpoint `at:` which an: vequilib-q rium with: the.L balloon: forces s is t reached; This t equilibrum. .isrdisturbedifythe-apreftension on the yarn-:changeal as is the case if the yarn drawn from}.th etsupplytpackageencounters more tension; for example, as the supply package size.` diminishes. In this gcase, theamount:` ofwrap onnthe fstorage wheel decreases 1, and with -it automatically theamount of yarn tensiomprior to` ballooning, thereby kee ing. the-balloon 4tension constant.`

A Iii-order` to,.be,abletomaintainga constanttballoont tension, it has been found to be imperative that in'all 2,802,329 Patented Aug. 13, 1957 cases some amount of` wrap be present on the storage wheel periphery atall times. There are, however, a nunn ber. of factors which will affect the amount of wrap. For instance, the air resistance to the ballooning yarn varies with the spindle speed and with the size of the yarn to be twisted. Also these yarns encounter different tensions as they are drawn from various types of supply packages. Thus, if one diameter of storage wheel is to be used under a wide variety of conditions, such wheel must be arranged tomaintain a minimum amount of wrap with the lightest yarn-and the greatest pre-tension, and yetfthe same wheel will, however,`have to becapable of containing several wraps with the heaviestV yarn and the lightest pretension.

Storing multiple turns ofl yarn on the storage wheel has heretofore,` however, presented a problem of overlapping, which resultedain uneven tension and sometimesin yarntbrea'kage with consequent delay and loss of production. Such overlapping will take place, for example, whenv the spindle isstarted up, as before rotation, andduev to-thefinitial upward pull, as the yarn travels to the take-up` mechanism, it leaves the storage wheel at the uppermostedge of the radial opening in the storage wheel periphery. As the spindle starts and picks up speed and the yarnrbeginsA to wrap around the storage wheel periphleryto establish an equilibrium with the yarn balloon, I have found that the wrap in forming itself takes a downward sloping path` from the upper most edge of the` openingas far down as the storage wheel ange, which liange prevents thea-wrap from falling downwardly olf the storage( wheel. Under theseconditions, then, if there is more than one-.wrap about the storage wheel, the yarnv willcrossf itself and' overlap where it slants down from theopening.

Accordingly, itis an object of the presentv invention tosprovidea2; for 1 twister having a yarn storage: wheel structurewhich will guide multiple turns of yarn onto said wheelrin-non-overlapping relationupon the starting'y cfa spindle and during its operation.

At further problem inthe operation of 2y for l twster'sf isthe continuous `feeding ofzyarnfro'm the openinginlthell yarnstorage wheel when the yarn breaks, particularly if the break occurs in the` balloon. The broken end will thenrextendlhorizontally from the: storage wheel and, duel toscentrifugalforce, willbe hurled outwardly and con-' tinue to be taken from the supply package. This frequent'- ly `foulsadjacentspindleson the frame, causing additional yam breakage.

It isthus a further object of the presentinve'ntionto providea Zfor 1 twister spindle4 that will prevent con-'v tinued feedingqof the yarn upon yarn breakage.

It.ista.particularfeaturesof thepresent invention that itsstructure is extremely simple both in construction andi operation and is adapted for mostetlicient operation with'L awide variety oyarns withoutchanges.

For thepurpose ofi more fully explainingl a preferred embodimentof my invention reference is madetol-thed Referring to the drawings, the.2 for l twister includes a verticalspindle rotatably mounted on aftwister frame l0 which commonly is arranged to-mount a relativelyI large number of such spindles.V The spindle generally includes` anon-rotatable blade l2 suitably-mounted'on, said 'frame lil,L suchas by nuts 14 and 'rubber washers 16,

the blade 12 rotatably supporting a spindle whirl 18. The whirl 18 may be driven to rotate portions of the spindle structure by a tape (not shown) in the well known manner. The upper portion of the spindle has an axial yarn passage 19 therethrough as is common in 2 forl twisters. A normally stationary yarn package carrier 20 is rotatably mounted on said spindle as by anti-friction bearings 22, such yarn package carrier being maintained in stationary position by magnetic means as more fully described. in Patent No. 2,374,085 to E. C. Gwaltney. Such means may consist of horse shoe magnets mounted in fixed position relative to twister frame by a bracket 24. The yarn package is arranged to hold a spool 26 surrounding said carrier, an annular ring 28 of rubber or other resilient frictional material being provided on the upper surface of the lower flange of said carrier for holding said spool, the spool 26 being shown (Fig. l) as having yarn S wound thereon in the usual manner. The upper end of normally stationary spool 26 is provided with an upper flier mounted for free rotative movement with respect to the normally stationary spool, said flier including a horizontal disc 30 having a guide member 32 of heart shape extending downwardly from the peripheral edge of said disc outside of the spool 26. At the upper portion of said heart shaped guide at opposite edges thereof are provided yarn guiding slots 34 through which the yarn S is threaded, said guide providing means for unwinding the yarn from the spool at an angle substantially perpendicular to the axis of the spindle, as the yarn S passes from the spool 2.6 across the face of the heart shaped guide 32 to the slot 34 and finally to the axial passage through the spindle as indicated in Fig. 1. A simple friction disc 36 maintained in non-rotative positionbut still free to move vertically and in frictional engagement with the upper surface of upper flier disc 30 provides a simple and effective means for braking the rotation of the upper flier which is imparted to said Hier by unwinding of yarn S from the spool 26 through engagement of said yarn by said upper flier surfaces to provide a pretension on the yarn. The amount of such pretension may be quickly and easily adjusted by varying the amount of such braking which may be most easily accomplished by changing the weight and/or material of the friction disc 36 to provide the amount of braking most desirable for the particular yarn which is to be unwound.

According to the present invention, a lower flier structure is mounted on the spindle for rotation therewith below the spool 26, said structure including a cup shaped flier 38 having mounted at the bottom thereof a yarn storage wheel having an outer cylindrical surface 40 concentric to said spindle. The outer surface 4t) of said wheel extends lengthwise of the spindle for a length sufficient to provide for storage of a plurality of turns of yarns on said surface, although in the drawings, for simplicity, but slightly more than one turn of yarn S is shown wrapped around said surface. Furthermore, such surface need not be continuous to be operative, but may, for example, consist of a plurality of spaced pins defining an interrupted substantially cylindrical surface. A rim or flange 42 is provided at the lower edge of said cylindrical storage surface 4t), the upper surface 44 of said flange being slanted outwardly and downwardly from the yarn storage surface 40 to permit broken yarn to pass downwardly over the slanted edge and be wound up and held in an annular groove 46 having a reduced diameter in the spindle whirl 18, such groove being positioned immediately below the yarn storage wheel at the lower end of axial passage 19. Although the degree of slant of the flange surface 44 is not critical, I have found that an angle from the spindle axis of from 20 to 60 is satisfactory, with 30 being preferable, since if the angle is too great the yarn will tend to slip downward from the storage wheel surface even though unbroken.

An outer opening is provided in the storage wheel surface 40, said opening extending through the lower edge of the wheel flange 42; and being defined at its top by flier 38 and at its sides by slanted yarn guiding edges 48, a yarn guiding passage 50 being provided in the lower surface of said storage wheel leading from the axial yarn passage 10 of the spindle to said outer opening. The passage 50 is open along the lower surface of the yarn storage wheel to facilitate threading yarn through the spindle, as well as to enable broken yarn to fall olf the yarn storage wheel, and be wound up in groove 46 as hereinafter explained. A pair of spaced, oppositely slanted yarn guiding edges 48 are provided at each side of the outer opening to permit rotation of the spindle in either direction, but one of said edges operating at a time to provide a yarn guiding edge which preferably extends across the entire face of the storage wheel cylindrical surface 40. Of course, if the spindle is to be operated in but one direction, only one slanted guiding edge need be provided.

The working yarn guiding edge 48 is slanted with its upper end leading its lower end in the direction of rotation of the spindle, so that, when the spindle is revolved, said working edge is effective to provide a downward component of force upon yarn passing from the storage wheel opening tangentially of the storage wheell to guide the yarn in a downward direction. The angle of slant of edges 48 is preferably at least 5 and may be much greater to facilitate construction of the spindle, an angle of about 30 being entirely satisfactory from both standpoints.

To operate my novel spindle, the yarn is first threaded from the spool 26 through the passages 19 and 50 and then upward to the usual stationary guide and winding mechanism above the spindle, and the spindle, is then started, As explained above, as soon as the balloon of the yarn begins to provide a tangential component of yarn tension, the yarn slides downwardly along the working yarn guiding edge 48 to the flange surface 44, the outward slant of said surface being sufficient to prevent further downward movement of the yarn. Thus, when the spindle is revolving, the yarn S is fed from the storage wheel opening .at the lower side of the storage wheel surface, and from there is moved upwardly by the upward component of yarn tension provided by the winding mechanism so that at no time can a plurality of turns of yarn on the storage wheel surface bein overlapping relationship.

Although the slanted upper surface 44 of flange 42 effectively maintains the yarn on storage Wheel cylindrical surface 40 as long as the yarn is passing'upwardly to the winding mechanism, when the yarn is broken at a point between the axial spindle yarn passage and the winding mechanism, the loss of an upward component of yarn tension allows the weight of the yarn itself to movethe broken yarn'downwardly over the slanted flange surface 44 and below the storage wheel. The yarn will then be wound up on the reduced diameter in groove 46 by the rotating spindle and will be prevented from con-v tinuously being fed outwardly from the storage wheel opening.

Thus, in my novel 2 for 1 spindle storage wheel structure, it will be seen that I have provided a surprisingly simple and effective means which simultaneously solves the aforementioned problems of overlapping turns of yarn and of continued feeding when the yarn breaks.

While I have herein disclosed and described a preferred embodiment of the invention, it will be'understood that the same is susceptible of various modifications and changes within the 'spirit of my invention and the scope of the appended claims.

I claim: Y v

1. In a two for one twister having a rotatable spindle with an axial'yarn passage for' drawing olf the yarn therethrough, a yarn storage wheel with an outer ,substantially cylindricalv surface concentric to and extending lengthwise of said spindle mounted on said spindle for rotation therewith, said wheel having an outer opening in said surface having a yarn guiding edge slanted with its upper end leading its lower end in the direction of rotation of said spindle, and said spindle having a yarn passage leading from said axial yarn passage to said outer opening, said yarn guiding edge being effective upon rotation in a direction with its upper end leading to provide a downward sliding component upon and gui e in a downward direction yarn passing from said outer opening to prevent overlapping of a plurality of turns of yarn wrapped about said storage wheel outer surface.

2. ln a two for one twister as claimed in claim l, wherein the angle of slant of said yarn guiding edge is at least 5 from the axis of said spindle.

3. ln a two for one twister having a rotatable spindle with an axial yarn passage for drawing oil' the yarn therethrough, a yarn storage wheel with an outer substantially cylindrical surface concentric to and extending lengthwise of said spindle mounted on said spindle for rotation therewith, said wheel having a lower flange extending outwardly from said cylindrical surface, an outer opening in said surface having a yarn guiding edge slanted with its upper end leading its lower end in the direction of rotation of said spindle, and said spindle having a yarn passage leading from said axial yarn passage to said outer opening, said yarn guiding edge being effective upon rotation in a direction with its upper end leading to provide a downward sliding component upon and guide in a downward direction toward said ange yarn passing frorn said outer opening to prevent overlapping of a plurality of turns of yarn wrapped about said storage wheel outer surface.

4. In a two for one twister having a rotatable spindle with an axial yarn passage for drawing off the yarn therethrough, a yarn storage wheel with an outer substantially cylindrical surface concentric to and extending lengthwise of said spindle mounted on said spindle for rotation therewith, said wheel having a lower flange extending outwardly from said cylindrical surface, an outer opening in said surface extending through the lower edge of said wheel and having a yarn guiding edge slanted with its upper end leading its lower end in the direction of rotation of said spindle, and said spindle having an open yarn passage leading from said axial yarn passage to said outer opening, said yarn guiding edge being effective upon rotation in a direction with its upper end leading to provide a downward sliding component upon and guide in a downward direction toward said flange yarn passing from said outer opening to prevent overlapping of a plurality of turns of yarn wrapped about said storage wheel outer surface.

5. In a two for one twister having a rotatable spindle with an axial yarn passage for drawing off the yarn therethrough, a yarn storage wheel with an outer substantially cylindrical surface concentric to and extending lengthwise of said spindle mounted on said spindle for rotation therewith, said wheel having a lower ange extending outwardly from said cylindrical surface, the upper surface of said liange being slanted outwardly and downwardly, an outer opening in said surface extending through the lower edge of said wheel and having a yarn guiding edge slanted with its upper end leading its lower end in the direction of rotation of said spindle, and said spindle having an open yarn passage leading from said axial yarn passage to said outer opening, said yarn guidedge bei g effective upon rotation in a direction with its upper end leading to provide a downward sliding component upon and guide in a downward direction toward said ilange yarn passing from said outer opening to prevent overlapping of a plurality of turns of yarn wrapped about said storage wheel outer surface.

i. .ln a two for one twister as claimed in claim 5 wherein said flange surface is slanted downwardly at an angle of between 20 and 60 from the axis of said spindle.

7. in a two for one twister as claimed in claim 5 further having an annular groove around said spindle immediately below said storage wheel for holding the yarn end upon breakage oi the yarn and the downward passage of said brel-ren yarn over said slanted flange.

E. in a two for one twister as claimed in claim 1 wherein said yarn storage wheel has a lower ange extending outwardly from said cylindrical surface, the upper surface of said flange being slanted outwardly and downwardly from said cylindrical surface, and an outer opening in said surface extending through the lower edge of said wheel, said spindle having an open yarn passage leading from said axial yarn passage to said outer opening7 and said spindle having an annular groove immediately below said storage wheel for holding the yarn upon breakage of the yarn and the downward passage of said broken yarn over said slanted flange.

Cochran July 17, 1951 May May 20, 1952 

